A Study on the Disturbing Factors Which Work against Therapeutic Atmosphere and Environment on Hospital Wards as Perceived by Patients and Nurses

Kim, Young Hae; Han, Myoung Eun

Abstract

As a descriptive survey, this study was attempted to get basic data necessary to recognize the factors that disturb the therapeutic atmosphere of hospital wards as perceived by nurses and hospitalized patients, to identify differences between the perceptions of the nurses and of patients. The subjects, 159 patients in Pusan National Hospital and 68 nurses working there were sampled between March 18 and April 13, 1996. The tool used to measure the disturbing factors was an amended form of the one developed by Kim, Mae Ja(1983). The differences between each subject's score for each factor were analyzed using means and SD, and the highest 3 items above the mean score for each factor were collected and compared. The results are described below : 1. Subject's perception of main disturbing factors : patients reported that the main factors were 'loss of role and economic trouble', 'the prognosis of disease', 'the change of daily life' but nurses replied that the main factors were 'the prognosis of disease', 'the communication trouble with the medical team and interpersonal relationships'. 'The change of daily life' was not a perceived factor by nurses, but ranked third by patients. 2. Subject's perception degree of each disturbing factor : (1) among the items related to interpersonal relationship, the patient group reported that the worst disturbance was due to severely ill patients in the same room' but the nurse group regarded 'greed to monopolize wheelchairs or other supplies' as the worst disturbance. (2) among the items related to physical factors, the patient group regarded 'limitations to wash their body, physical pain and limitations in physical activity' as the worst disturbance, but the nurse group regarded 'physical pain', and 'limitations to activity or change of appearance' as the worst disturbance. (3) among the items related to the change of daily activity, the patient group regarded 'the boredom of hospitalization or in favorable diet' as the worst disturbance, but the nurse group regarded 'too much noise or unclean room' as the worst disturbance. (4) among the items related to the communication trouble with medical team, the patient group regarded 'the ignorance of their disease due to poor information, the inability to understand the language of the medical team or the difficulty in seeing physician in time' as the worst disturbance, but the nurse group regarded 'the inability to trust physicians and physician's poor attention to patients' as the worst disturbance.